Reversing mechanism for the band-cylinders of spinning-mules.



J. H. RYALLS. REVERSING MECHANISM FOR THE BAND CYLINDERS OF SPINNING MULES.

APPLIOATION FILE D APR. 19

Patented Apr. 21, 191i I I I I, I fi 6 7 I--- V m a 6 Z 3 .2 5 0 L 0 2 1 9 2 4 1 h 2 3 3 3 Z 3 8 M Z \F-(W 7 COLUMBIA PLANOGQAPH c0., WASHINGTON. n c.

-: 'rnn sTA ENT OFFICE.

JOHN H. RYALLS, 0F CI-IARLO'ITESVIL-LE, VIRGINIA, ASSIGNOR T0 RYALLS MACHINE COMPANY, OF VIRGINIA.

REVERSING MECHANISM FOR THE. BAND-CYLINDERS OF SPINNING-MULES.

1' b all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN H. RYALLs, of Charlottesville, in the county of Albemarle, and in the State of Virginia, have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Reversing Mechanism for the Band-Cylinders of Spinning-Mules, and do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof.

My invention relates to the same subject as that of my United States Patent No. 942,752, dated December 7, 1909, and the object of my invention is to make certain improvements whereby, speaking in a general way, the life of the mechanism shall be lengthened, its efficiency increased and the handling of the parts for taking down and assembling the same rendered easier and quicker, and to these ends and others that will be hereinafter described, my invention consists in the reversing mechanism constructed substantially as hereinafter specified and claimed.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a top plan view with parts in section illustrating a reversing mechanism embodying my invention; Fig. 2 a vertical section there of on line 22 of Fig. 1; Fig. 3 a detail view in section of the means for detachably holding the intermediate gear on its stub shaft; Fig. 4- is a detail View in plan show ing a lever operated device for controlling the position of the intermediate gear; Fig. 5 is a detail view in perspective showing a different manner, from that shown in Fig. 1, of attaching the cuff gear to the cylinder.

A spinning-mule ordinarily contains 420 spindles and sometimes as many as 600 spindles, each spindlebeing revolved by a band or belt running from the band cylinder to a wheel on the spindle. It is essential to reverse the direction of the revolution of the spindles. This reversal of direction of the spindles when performed by hand means the lifting of each spindle out of its step bearing, and the removal and reapplication to the spindle wheel of the band and it is to enable such removal and reapplication of the band of the spindle that the spindle is lifted out of its step hearing. The time required to do this work by hand in a spinning mule of 4:20 spindles is so great as to be a serious loss, and besides this, the removal and replacing of the spindle in its step bearing injures the bearing, which is of brass,

Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed April 19, 1912.

Patented Apr. 21, 1914:.

Serial No. 691,873.

by the striking thereagainst of the spindle end, resulting in burs against which the splndle in its revolution rubs and results in such friction as to wear out the bearing. Again in changing the bands by hand they are slackened, the result being that bad thread is produced, which if suitable for use at all is available only for selvage, and this means often a serious loss.

In the embodiment of my invention illustrated in the drawings, the spinning-mule is of ordinary construction having as usual band-cylinders 10, arranged in axial alinement and spaced apart, and extending between them is a shaft composed of three alining sections, a middle section 11 to which is secured a band pulley 12, by Which power is taken to revolve said middle section, and two end sections 13, each end sec tion 13 being extended partially into the cylinder and the latter secured rotatably thereto by set screws 14. The middle shaft section is supported at both ends by bearings in the machine frame 15, and the same bearing that serves for one end of the mid dle section also serves as the bearing for the contiguous cylinder shaft section, and said bearings 16 have removable caps, by the removal of which the middle shaft section can be very easily taken out and as easily replaced without the necessity of disturbing the cylinders, and this is one of the important advantages of the divided shaft arrangement. Where a single continuous shaft is used, to separate and assemble the parts involves the sliding of the cylinders end-wise off the shaft, and said cylinders ordinarily are over 10 feet long.

At'the' end of each band cylinder is a spur gear 17 with which meshes a like gear 18 on a counter shaft 19, which counter shaft is adapted to be geared to the power shaft 11 by trains of gears, to be described, which at will may be arranged to revolve the counter shaft in either direction, and thus revolve the band cylinders in either direction according to the direction in which the spindles are to be revolved to suit the requirements of the case. The gear 17 is secured to its cylinder 10 by bolts, so that the power to revolve the cylinder is applied directly from the gear to the cylinder instead of from the gear to the cylinder shaft and from the latter to the cylinder. It has been found that by applying the power to the cylinder shaft to drive the cylinder as the set screw connection between said shaft and cylinder was the medium through which the power was applied, such back lash as was inevitable from the change of direction of revolution would soon result in the set screws cutting around the shaft, and this, of course, is avoided by my present construction, and from the present construction other important advantages result in that the power being applied at or near the periphery of the cylinder, a much longer leverage is obtained than in the former construction so that there is a large saving of power.

The gearing for transmitting motion from the power shaft to the counter shaft comprises a spur gear 190, keyed to the counter shaft, a spur gear 20 keyed to the power shaft but adapted to be moved axially along the same, to move it either into or out of mesh with the spur gear 190 on the counter shaft, and an intermediate idler gear 21 whose face is sufficiently broad to enable it to mesh with both the gears 190 and 20, when they occupy the different planes that they do when the gear 20 on the power shaft is moved to take it out of mesh with the gear 190. The broad-faced idler gear 21 is mounted on a stud shaft or gudgeon 22, which at one end is supported by a standard 23 beneath the power and counter shafts. By locating the broad-faced gear below the power shaft and counter shaft, no arm or extension of the standard 23 is necessary,

. but the shaft of said broad-faced gear is supported by the body part of said standard, and thus a rigid steady support is provided that is not subjected by vibration or torsion such as is the case with an arm or extension.

At this point it is proper to call attention to another important advantage of the divided shaft. It will be seen that with a long continuous power shaft extending through the band cylinders when the band cylinders have their direction of revolution opposite that of the power shaft, the latter and the band cylinders thus running in opposite directions, a great deal of friction will result in consequence of the opposite directions of the rotation of the cylinders and the power shaft upon which the cylinders have their bearing. By the divided shaft all this is obviated because the power shaft section does not pass through the "cylinders, but they are supported by their shaft section 13 whose direction of revolution changeswith the change of the direction of revolution of the band cylinders.

In order to provide for the usual variable speed motion which requires a constant direction orrevolution of its pulleys, I mount the usual cone pulley 27 so that though it is located around one of the cylinder shaft sections 13, it will, nevertheless, revolve independently of said cylinder shaft section. I do this by providing said cone pulley with an elongated hub or sleeve 28, which extends through the contiguous bearing 16, and key it to the near end of the power shaft 11, so that said pulley or sleeve is journaled in that particular bearing 16, and the contiguous cylinder shaft section 13, has its bearing in said hub or sleeve.

The standard 23 has at each end a suitable clamping bolt 29 by which to attach it to the ordinary frame of the spinning mule, and to allow for variations in different machines, said standard is made extensible and contractible, as by being formed of two sections having a complementary tongue and slot connection 30 with bolts or screws 31 for securely holding said two sections at a desired length.

As the noise produced from toothed gearing is objectionable, I provide for its elimination, or material reduction. This may be accomplished by the application of a sound deadening body, such as lead, asbestos, rubber, etc., to the gears. I prefer to use lead, and I employ it in the form of rings 33 let into annular grooves in the opposite faces of each gear, as clearly as shown in Fig. 1, exeepting in the case of the cylinder gears 17. An ample body of the sound deadening material is thus provided in the wheel without weakening its strength. In the case of each cylinder gear 17, said gear being of cufi form, so that it may slip over the end of the cylinder, a ring of lead 34 is interposed between the web of the gear and the end of the cylinder, and the gear tightly clamped thereagainst by several, preferably, three bolts 35. The heads of the bolts are preferably hexagonal, because the room or space affording access to them is very small and it is important to be able to turn them with the wrench by a. number of short turns. In place of the spur gears 17 and 18, the type of sprocket gearing may be employed known as the so called silent or noiseless type.

hen the gears 190 and 20 are in mesh, the intermediate gear 21 is disengaged from both said gears, and as shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, this may be accomplished by the complete removal of the gear 21 from its shaft. To enable the removal and replacing of said gear to be very rapidly accomplished, I have invented the device best illustrated in Figs. 5 and 6, which consists of a simple washer or disk 36 having a diameter not greater than that of the stud shaft 22, and which is attached to the outer end of said shaft by a bolt 37 which passes through an elongated hole or slot 38 in the washer, a portion of which is concentric, and the remainder eccentric by being extended radially. The disk or washer is heavier at the side having the radial elongation, so that when the bolt is loose the washer will gravitate to a concentric position with reference to the stud, and thus offer no obstacle to the axial or endwise movement of the gear for removing and replacing it, but when the bolt is tightened up the friction of its head upon the washer shifts the washer out of concentric position so that a portion of it overlaps the side of the gear 21 and thereby confines it in place upon its stud shaft. The set screw by which the gear 20' is secured to the shaft 11 sometimes Works loose, and the gear 20 then works along the shaft and there is danger of its teeth being damaged or broken, the direction of movement being toward the pulley 12 of the rope drive, movement in the opposite direction being prevented by the hubs or collars of other gears on the shaft 11. To prevent such objectionable shifting of the gear 20, I interpose between the same and the rope pulley 12, a sleeve 39 that reaches from gear to pulley.

It is to be understood that various forms of reversible power transmitting mechanism may be employed to transmit motion from the power shaft to the spindle driving cylinders. Thus, as shown in Fig. 4:, instead of removably mounting the intermediate gear 21, said gear may be slidably mounted upon a longer shaft 220 and the hub thereof engaged by a hand lever 221, adapted to be looked as by means of a pin 222, and hole in the lever in a position to hold the gear in mesh, or in a position out of mesh.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, both gears 190 and 20 are in mesh with the intermediate gear, but, of course, not with each other, while as shown in Fig. 4c, the gears 190 and 20 are in mesh and the intermediate gear 21 is slid out of meshing position. A wide field for the use of my invention is its attachment to spinning mules already in use and which have no provision for reversing the band cylinders. It is important, of course, to adapt my mechanism to the structural conditions present in spinning mules of this description, and in Fig. 5 I illustrate one of the conditions which must be met and the adaptation of my invention thereto. In Fig. 5 the band cylinder 10 has integral with its head the half boX 100 for the shaft 13. To apply the cuff gear 17 to such a cylinder, I form the gear 17 with the other half box 170, and thus this special condition is met and at the same time the bolts passing through the two half boxes form a means of connecting the cuff gear 17 to the cylinder 10.

Having thus described my invention what I claim is In a reversing mechanism for spinning mules, the combination of alining band cylinders spaced apart, a shaft secured to each of said cylinders and projecting therefrom, a power shaft situated between and in alinement with said cylinder shafts and rotating independently thereof, a countershaft, a reversing gear connection between said power shaft and said countershaft, and a gear connection between the countershaft and each of said band cylinders, including a gear fitted over the end of each cylinder and affixed thereto.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand.

JOHN H. RYALLS.

Witnesses:

GHAs. J. WILLIAMSON, JAMES H. MARK.

Copies 01' this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Iatents, Washington, D. G. 

